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Excaliber wrote:

Alf wrote:OK, but commissioned officer pay is a lot less than my normal pay too. Apples and oranges.

A part time officer has only a certain number of hours available for private security work. If at the commissioned officer rate he can't make enough during those hours combined with his LEO salary to make ends meet, I think the distinction is quite important.

The issue that started this thread was the inability of a part-time officer (defined as less than 32 hours per week official duty) to make the much higher hourly rate that full time off-duty LEO's are able to command. We have many different opinions about the proper use /misuse of police authority being used for private benefit. The fact is that there are official regulations in place that prevent part-time/reserve officers from serving in the private sector with full official authority...something I was not aware of before this. As JMRA stated, I suspect that the primary purpose of this statute is to use legislation to create a market demand for the off-duty officers, allowing them to sell their official authority at a higher rate. I'm not in favor of this for reasons I've previously stated.

I'd rephrase the above statement to apply to anyone: A person working as __(insert any occupation)__ has only a certain number of hours available for additional employment. If, at the prevailing market rate for that job, he/she can't make enough during those hours, combined with his regular salary, to make ends meet, then he shouldn't take THAT job.

The complaint being made is not that a part time officer can't go out and get another part time job...it's that he can't go out and get a part time job that pays 2-3 times more than he's making on his regular job. That's not an injustice. That's pretty much a universal situation for everyone else in any other occupation.

talltex wrote:I'd rephrase the above statement to apply to anyone: A person working as __(insert any occupation)__ has only a certain number of hours available for additional employment. If, at the prevailing market rate for that job, he/she can't make enough during those hours, combined with his regular salary, to make ends meet, then he shouldn't take THAT job.

So true. Some of the talking points in this debate remind me of the "Occupy" protestors' entitlement mentality.

talltex wrote:The complaint being made is not that a part time officer can't go out and get another part time job...it's that he can't go out and get a part time job that pays 2-3 times more than he's making on his regular job. That's not an injustice. That's pretty much a universal situation for everyone else in any other occupation.

I was still in law enforcement when this law was passed. We used Reserve Deputies extensively for extra jobs. If I remember, this was pushed through by the private security lobby or at least that was the impression we got. You have to understand, at the time (1978) most officers in Harris County were getting $15 an hour for most off duty work. The private security firms charged the same amount for an armed guard but of course, the guard did not make but a small percentage of that hourly cost. People were much more likely to pay the $15 for an actual peace officer with arrest powers that a private guard with little to no authority. The security lobby tried to stop even full time officers from extra security jobs but they had to settle for just prohibiting reserves and part time officers instead. Those are the facts as I remember we were told back at the time. I used to work full time as a regular job at a bank making $12 hour while I was a Harris County Sheriff' Reserve Deputy. When I went full time with the department, I of course quit that job. It's all about the power of big business and the security business is big in Texas.

If only I could go back 11yrs when I made this thread,LOL! Still in LE and getting my private security license was a breeze. Fill out the application online and pay $57 then walla! Plastic in the mailbox. I did have to get on with a local security company to make it official but it wasn’t an issue.